Too often, science education in the U.S. extinguishes students’ interest in the sciences at an early age instead of sparking their passion for exploration and discovery. Discovery Education and 3M resolved to address the problem, and their boldness in tackling this massive challenge has won them the first place award in the “Best Education/Scholarship Program” category of PR Daily’s 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.

Discovery and 3M created a new science curriculum on its own website. The site,www.scienceofeverydaylife.com, takes events and objects from daily life, tracing the origins of those artifacts and happenings back to their roots in scientific and technological advances.

To give students a feel for the many complexities and frustrations in applying scientific principles to practical purposes, Discovery and 3M set up a national annual contest with a grand prize of $25,000 to find what they called “America’s Top Young Scientist”: A middle-school student in the seventh, eighth, or ninth grade who conceives and builds an object that embodies some fairly advanced scientific, engineering, or technical principle, and performs a useful social service.

In 2015, only 700 middle-school students entered the contest. But Discovery and 3M aren’t dismayed—they know that real reform in schooling doesn’t respond to a quick fix. Fundamental change can take decades, but Discovery and 3M are committed for the long haul.